Chapter 2

LISA POV :

Lisa was halfway through eating mango with chili powder straight from the bowl when her mom texted:

Come downstairs. Now.

No explanation. No emoji. Just that.

She groaned. “Great. Evening ruined.”

Because in her family, texts like that only meant one thing: someone’s about to ruin my life and expect me to smile about it.

She dropped her spoon and stomped downstairs. Sitting room lights were on. Mom and stepdad were there, both looking way too calm. And in the center of the coffee table sat a contract.

Lisa froze.

“Oh. No. No no no.”

Her stepdad said, “Sit.”

Lisa crossed her arms. “Yeah, no. Tell me first what this is. I need context before I fake my reaction.”

Her mom gave that classic Lisa, please look. “Just… read it.”

Lisa plopped onto the couch with all the attitude she could muster. She picked up the papers, scanned the top line, and froze.

Marriage agreement.

Lisa blinked.

“Wait. Wait. Wait.” She pointed at the page. “You want me to marry… Jennie Kim?”

Her mom nodded. Stepdad leaned back. Lisa let out a short, sharp laugh.

“This is… targeted. Weirdly targeted.”

Her stomach did a weird flip she didn’t like. Okay, maybe not dislike, but she was definitely not going to admit that out loud.

Lisa flipped through the rest: two-year minimum, joint appearances, public engagements, possible shared residence.

Her brain screamed, control, control, control. But her chest kept saying, also… interesting.

Lisa rolled her eyes, standing up. “This is insane. I cannot believe you’re doing this.”

“You don’t have to love her,” her mom said quietly.

Lisa froze. Wait, what?

She cleared her throat. “Right. Of course. Love. That’s never been part of the deal. Got it.”

But then she caught herself looking at the signature line. Her thumb hovered over the pen.

Her chest gave another weird flip she definitely wasn’t going to analyze. Nope. Not going to think about it.

Her stepdad said, “If you refuse, your position in the company will be reconsidered. No executive track, no succession preparation, no European division.”

Lisa blinked. And then laughed. Short, nervous, too fast to be genuine.

Because of course. The family was dangling the company over her head like a carrot. And of course, the carrot was attached to Jennie Kim.

She picked up the pen. Signed quickly. Tossed it back onto the table.

Done. Cursed. Official.

Lisa grabbed her phone and stepped outside onto the terrace. She opened her contacts, scrolled… and stopped at Jennie Kim.

Why did she even still have her number? That felt way too personal.

She typed quickly before she could think too much:

Lisa:

heard we’re getting married. my condolences.

Three dots appeared almost instantly.

Jennie: 

if u think i’m the one suffering here, you’re more delusional than i thought

Lisa grinned. That was exactly Jennie. Cold. Controlled. Impossible to read.

Lisa:

still mean. comforting tbh

Jennie replied immediately:

Jennie:

save it. i’m not doing fake nostalgia with u

Lisa smiled at the screen, just a little. Too much. Immediately regretted it.

Then she typed again, fingers flying:

Lisa:

cute. anyway family wants us seen together tomorrow morning. 9am. i’ll pick u up

Jennie replied instantly:

Jennie:

die

Lisa laughed under her breath. Quietly, so no one could hear. And she shoved her phone in her pocket.

She leaned against the railing, looking out at the city lights, chest still doing that ugh I shouldn’t feel this way. 

This was bad. Dangerous. Completely insane.

But also… not the worst thing she’d imagined.

She sighed, shaking her head. “Yeah,” she muttered. “This is going to be a complete disaster.”

And part of her was weirdly… looking forward to it.

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this chapter is a bit short i know, i hope you enjoy it.

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thanks for reading